Wait
by zuko4ever1477
Summary: Three oneshots about Zuko and Katara's life together.
1. Chapter 1

Her lips brushed his briefly, then he backed away and twisted truth. "It's complicated," he told her, and ran.

It wasn't a total lie, he knew. His life had been nothing if not complex. But this part of it wasn't. He had known who he wanted, and he'd known it since the first and last time he dealt with pirates.

He knew those blue eyes by heart, and he knew he wanted the girl they belonged to. He could wait forever.

--

"Right now, I'm just a little confused," she told him gently. It was a lie. She loved this boy like a brother- nothing more, nothing less.

He leaned in and kissed her anyway. She backed away, angry, and fled back through the doors. She wouldn't kiss him. She would wait, loyally, for the boy she really loved. She'd known who he was since the day she was tied to a tree. Not the most romantic of circumstances, but their relationship had improved from there. Now he was the most important part of her life. She could wait forever.

--

She wouldn't have to. Night was falling now.

They told lies and wore the cloak of darkness willingly: it made their meetings unknown to friends and allies sleeping, dreaming obliviously.

She wished they could be more open and for once stop covering their tracks, but he valued her safety and her honor as much as his own- more, perhaps.

They thought back on their lies often, but never regretted them.

There was nothing complicated about the wonderful chills he got when _she_ kissed him, chills no amount of fire could keep at bay.

There was nothing confusing about that warm sense of safety and love she felt when he held her close, an aura no other boy could never create.

--

She was worried. The rest of the group had stayed up uncharacteristically late. She might not make it into the forest at their chosen time.

Katara relaxed again slightly, remembering his words. Zuko would always wait for her, and that was all she needed.

**another zutara oneshot. for those of you who don't recognize it, i referred to zuko's date with jin in tales of ba sing se and the kataraxaang kiss from ember island players. the creative juices are really flowing today, and while not all of my ideas are great, i'm putting out every one of them just to see what people think. R&R please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I've decided to expand my oneshot into three little snapshot moments of zuko and katara's lives together. this one is zuko playing a little game called hide and explode with his kids. pretty fun to write.**

"I'm bored. Can we play a game?" Little Iroh kicked at a pebble, looking pained.

Zuko looked up at his son, now ten years of age. "What do you want to play?"

Kya had her mother's blue eyes and also a spirit of adventure. "How about Hide and Explode?" she proposed excitedly.

"You're too little." Iroh was unfortunately at odds with his namesake where personality was concerned. "Besides, you're a _Waterbender_. How are _you_ supposed to play?"

"Iroh, be nice to your sister. She's only two years younger than you anyway. And she's played the game before," Katara reminded him as she came into the courtyard.

"Fine. But don't expect us to wait for you." He shot his sister a venomous glance, which she countered by sticking out her tongue smugly.

"Alright, since you're being such a bad sport Iroh, _you_ can go hide the blasting jelly. But please use the _mild_ one this time," Zuko added severely, with a fierce look at the burn marks crisscrossing his son's scarred arm.

"Right, right. It was just a mixup, I don't see why everyone has to bring it up _every_ _time_..."

"Since Kya can't light the explosives on her own, she'll have to hide. That means Iroh will be it."

"But we need more than two players! It won't be fun if only one person hides! Pleeease, Dad?" Kya was the picture of blue-eyed innocence as she begged him to join their game, but Zuko was reminded vaguely of the little girl's aunt. He would have to work harder at molding them away from Azula's path in life.

"Okay, fine," he consented, which probably didn't help. "But this'll have to be a quick game. I've got lots of work to do."

Kya nodded eagerly, hair loopies bouncing as she did so. "This is gonna be the best game ever!"

"I've hidden all the explosives. Don't worry, I didn't blow anything up, really. So when are we gonna-"

"Zuko, are you sure this game is safe?" Katara's motherly instincts were kicking in, and the word 'explosives' hadn't helped.

"Completely. The seeker goes around looking for the hidden players, then tries to chase them to one of the hidden explosives and blow them up." Then he realized how unsafe that sounded. "Er... there's always a little healing hands action from you, right?"

She sighed. She didn't want to act like a mother hen, but she didn't want any of her children hurt either. "Fine. But just a quick game, please. No need to hang around explosives longer than necessary."

"Thanks Mom!" Iroh sounded delighted.

"We'll call a quits in an hour. If you haven't been found by then, head back to the dining hall for dinner. Okay?"

"Okay!" Kya beamed at him.

"Iroh, start counting. Kya and I have some hiding to do!"

"One, two, three..."

The grown man and little girl sprinted off in opposite directions, and Katara sighed, amusement sparkling in her eyes. Zuko was so determined to be a better father than Ozai had been. He was an excellent parent, and an even better husband. And she loved him more than anything in the world.

--

"Found you!" Iroh crowed his triumph, and then prepared to chase his sister to the nearest explosive.

"Sorry Iroh, but you've gotta catch me first!" Kya leaped gracefully to the top of the blasting jelly crate, then backflipped off it to the next obstacle. She moved from crate to crate, taunting him with acrobatics he'd never seen from her before.

"Hey, wait!" He was weaving frantically in between the crates, struggling to keep up with his little sister. The humiliation!

"I can't hear you!" she called back in a singsong tone.

"I said, WAIT!!"

"I must have misheard," she said between somersaults. "I thought you said 'wait'. But I'm pretty sure," she picked up speed for a particularly long jump, "that you said you weren't going to wait for me."

Iroh was annoyed. He threw a fireball at the crate she had paused on, but she sprang off it and too late he realized his mistake. He was blown backwards.

"I said... Wait... because you're much... better at this game than I... thought you were going to be." He smiled weakly at her, hoping that was good enough by way of apology.

"Okay," she replied, and helped him back to his feet. "Come on, let's head back."

--

Three quarters of an hour later, Zuko arrived at the dining hall to find his children and wife already eating. "How did you _not_ find me? I was in the most obvious-" he paused, realizing that Kya wasn't the one with powder marks all over her face. "Wait, weren't you-" he paused again at the grin on both his kids' faces. "Dear Agni, what happened?"

"He told me to wait," Kya said simply. "So I did."

**there ya have it folks, R&R please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**be warned, this one is pretty sad... **

"Katara," his breaths were even shallower now, but the word was insistent.

"Shhh... Save your strength..." the response was a whisper, so he wouldn't hear her voice break.

"Katara..." he pleaded.

"What is it?" she put as much love and tenderness into those words as she could, terrified that they would be the last she ever spoke where he could listen.

He closed his eyes. She willed herself to believe that he was simply gathering strength for these next words, but the fact that he needed to made it worse.

She had always thought of Zuko as untouchable. Over the years, good friends had come and gone, but never had she considered the fact that he would one day leave her too. But everything about him had been reversed, and life was confused... and tired. Black hair had become white, unbreakable bones frail.

And now, the love of her life was dying.

His breaths were shallower, his voice weaker as he went on. "Katara, I have always... loved you... I loved you when I first saw you.... I have loved you all these years in this life and I... will love you in the next one...."

She knew he was lying about the last one. He would be reincarnated, just like the rest of the world, and the instant he let go, he would forget he was Zuko. He would forget she was Katara. And he would forget that he had left her after so many years of loving each other.

"Zuko... Please, don't talk like that. I can heal you! I'll save you, Zuko, the way you saved me..."

He smiled sadly and shook his head, trying to breath more deeply so she wouldn't be afraid. Katara knew she couldn't heal something so natural as age. She could protect him from anything else in the world, and now his one weakness had caught up to him.

"Zuko..." there were tears in her eyes now, and she struggled vainly to blink them away. She would be strong for him. "Please.... Don't go. There must be something I can do..."

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for another long moment. "Tell me that you love me..."

She knew he would let go if she did. "No, please! Don't go! You can't leave me here, on my own!"

"Katara..." his voice was a hoarse whisper now. "You used to wait days that felt like... eternity for night to come... so we could meet... This is just... another long day..."

"Wait for me?" she breathed. The tears were flowing freely now, unnoticed and unchecked down her cheeks.

"I always have..." he gave her his lopsided smile, and she smiled bravely back. "I love you..." he was leaving her now.

"I love you too," she whispered, then he let out a contented sigh and closed his eyes for the last time. Zuko was gone.

But he would wait for her forever.


End file.
